


Alone, Together

by Elasmosaurus



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because I can, Beta so Glenn Lives, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Glenn Fraldarius Lives, Hapivain Agenda™, M/M, Pre-Relationship, felileth, pushing some of my fave rarepairs, sort of. Like the cusp of relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elasmosaurus/pseuds/Elasmosaurus
Summary: “I don’t know where you’re going, but I’ve got room for one more troubled soul,” Byleth calls from the driver's seat with a wry smile as he stomps to the car. He doesn’t slam the door when he throws himself aggressively into the passenger seat.Felix has a nasty argument with Rodrigue. Byleth comes to his rescue.A birthday present for one of my Betas <3
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth, Sylvain Jose Gautier/Hapi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Alone, Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wyverntail](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyverntail/gifts).



> This is a birthday present for the wonderful Vi, happy birthday and I hope you enjoy it!  
> She gave me 0 notice and the prompts "modern AU" and "Alone together" when asked. 4 hours later, this was born.

Byleth checks her phone and is greeted with a barrage of terse texts from her favourite grumpy fencing partner. Sighing, she catches up with the discourse. Of course it’s Fraldarius family drama.

**< Felix, 5:29>** Who the fuck does he think he is?

**< Felix, 5:30>** Fuck him

**< Felix, 5:31>** Hypocrite

**< Felix, 5:37>** As per usual, Golden Boy Glenn can do no wrong but I’m the fuck up for wanting to do my own thing

**< Felix, 5:40>** Murder’s wrong, right? Asking for a friend.

**< Byleth, 5:40>** Definitely wrong. OMW.

She dons her black biker jacket and ankle boots, grabbing the essentials before leaving the house. Manuela’s hand hovers at head height when she opens the door, and they smile at each other.

“I’m off for a drive. Be back by 9:30, 10ish.”

“Make it 10:30. You’re 20, we trust you, and I have needs.”

“Ew!” Byleth fakes disgust and laughs as she jumps into the car. Her dad had been by himself for so long, she was glad he’d found someone who made him happy. And who gave her a later curfew to do it with, too.

It was a win-win. She glanced at her phone again and saw no notifications, so she set off on the 20ish minute drive to Felix’s house.

**< Felix, 5:46>** Even with extenuating circumstances?

**< Felix, 5:47>** Don’t

**< Felix, 5:55>** By don’t come over

**< Felix, 6:01>** ...

**< Felix, 6:02>** I swear to Sothis

**< Byleth, 6:04>** Too late. Outside.

**< Felix, 6:05>** Idiot

That, she was not. After pulling up outside and dropping him the text, Byleth cracks the window open for some air. Byleth had no intention of going anywhere near the house if Felix was arguing with his dad. Even once they finished shouting at each other, being inside felt like walking on eggshells. They never truly did resolve anything and it wasn’t long until they found something else to fight about. She was just going to wait outside in the car until he was ready to come out and talk to her about it. Safest course of action. She dug around in the glove compartment for a well worn copy of ‘Six of Crows’ as she settled in to wait. It doesn’t take long, she can hear the shouting crescendo from the street. It must be a bad one. Seconds later, the door swings open so hard it smashes against the hinges. Byleth puts the book away and restarts the car, preparing to leave. He slams the door in his father’s face and turns towards her.

“I don’t know where you’re going, but I’ve got room for one more troubled soul,” Byleth calls from the driver's seat with a wry smile as he stomps to the car. He doesn’t slam the door when he throws himself aggressively into the passenger seat.

“Drive, then.”

“Seatbelt, Felix.”

He stares daggers at her, and she just smiles sweetly back at him. The break in their mexican standoff happens when the front door opens to an angry looking Rodrigue, prompting Felix to hastily fasten whilst Byleth checks the street is clear and quickly pulls away before he can reach them.

The tiniest hint of a smile creeps onto his face as he watches his father disappear in the rear view mirror. Good. She was helping.

The silence they sit in would be comfortable if not for the incessant buzzing of his phone.  _ Can’t the guy take a hint? _ She thinks as she turns on the stereo to Fall Out Boy blaring through the speakers.

_I don’t know where you’re going but do you got room for one more troubled soul._

Huh. Happy coincidence.

_ I don’t know where I’m going but I don’t think I’m coming home _

_ And I said _

_ I’ll check in tomorrow if I don’t wake up dead _

_ This is the road to ruin _

“AAAAND we started at the end! Say yeah. YEAH!” Felix probably hates her singing along like this, but she held out as long as she could. The song is such a banger. She really deserves a medal for the effort.

“Scream it from the top of your lungs, lungs, lungs,” he joins in quietly, staring intently out of the window to pretend he isn’t. The grouch should not be as adorable as it is. She indicates right, catching a glimpse of a singing smile that rivals her own as she checks the mirror to turn off. They cruise through the neighbourhood towards the woods at the edge of town where all the kids used to play when growing up.

They pull into the carpark and exit the car. A cool breeze assaults her bare face, biting into the evening chill, but the swoosh of the trees ahead brings back fond memories of afternoons playing siege castles in poorly built dens and stick fighting duels. She locks the car and walks towards the woods, feet following familiar paths, not checking if Felix is following. He has her number, he’ll let her know when he wants to leave.

An unknown and unconscious sense of purpose brings her to the clearing where her little group of Hapi, Yuri, Constance and Balthus had first met Glenn, Dimitri, Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix. She’d seen Glenn and Felix at her fencing classes, but never spoke to them before.

Byleth remembered it like it was yesterday.

_ The five of them - dubbed the Ashen Wolves by their leader, Yuri - were playing hide and seek in the woods. The clearing was home; if you weren’t found in 180 seconds, you had to come back. She and Yuri were the first to make it and they stood around waiting for the others to join them. _

_ Two boys of the same height - one with red hair, one with locks of an inky blue - came crashing into their space, laughing raucously. Quick on their heels were a shorter boy with the same midnight blue hair who bundled straight into the redhead’s waiting arms - was it the same as the boys from fencing class? It was! So it was Felix! - and a blonde girl. Glenn, Felix’s brother, frowned as he looked around. _

_ “Dima? Where are you buddy?” _

_ The redhead looked up from cuddling Felix, keeping an arm around him. “Dima?” _

_ “Here!” a small voice called out, footsteps coming closer until they abruptly stopped with a cry. It belonged to a short boy with shoulder length blonde hair and bright blue eyes who went flying as he tripped on a tree root at the edge of the clearing, landing close to Yuri. _

_ Yuri ran forwards to meet him as his friends came hurtling towards him. Dima’s eyes were wet, but he didn’t cry, and he dutifully didn’t pull away when Yuri started prodding him. _

_ “Why?” he asked instead, boring those intense eyes into Yuri’s lavender ones. _

_ “Need to make sure you’re not badly hurt, and it doesn’t look like you are.” Yuri finished his examination with a quick smile that grew into a frown when he noticed the grazes on Dima’s palm. His friends stood around him now, and Constance, Balthus and Hapi were visible at the edge of the glade. _

_ “Is it sore?” Yuri asked. Dima just nodded, swallowing as he tried not to cry. Yuri pulled a mediwipe out of his pocket - Byleth could be a little clumsy at times, so he’d started bringing them to patch up her scrapes - and reached out for the little boy’s hand. _

_ Dima placed it in his, and he cleaned the rock and soil from the graze. Once it was done, Yuri brought Dima’s hand to his mouth and brushed his lips against it. _

_ “There!” he said with a smile. “I kissed it better.” _

_ The redhead - Sylvain, Felix called him as he dug an elbow into his ribs - laughed at that, earning him a swift smack upside the head from an annoyed Hapi. _

_ “Learn some respect! Apologise to them.” _

_ “No offense, little lady, but - OW!” Hapi was  _ **not** _ someone you called little, and she made sure Sylvain knew it when she grabbed his ear to pull his head down. He looked to his friends for help, but other than Dima they were all laughing at him. _

_ “Apologise,” Hapi demanded, tugging harder. _

_ “Ow! Ow, I’m sorry Dima, I didn’t mean it. Sorry - erm, what was your name?” _

_ “Yuri-bird.” _

_ “Just Yuri actually,” he said, offering a hand to shake. Sylvain took it, and the rest of them joined in with introductions and handshakes. _

_ They played hide and seek together for hours that day until their parents came to find them, and whiled away many more hours in that space over the years as they grew. _

They should have known that it would shape out to be love between Sylvain and Hapi. In truth, Hapivain had never been able to keep their hands off each other. It was a shame that it hadn’t been the start of a wonderful romance between Dima and Yuri, although she could hardly fault the former’s taste in men. There was something about the Fraldarius boys.

“Ugh. Isn’t this where Hapi and Sylvain come to make out?”

Byleth shoots him a deadpan unamused look and drags him through their clearing to wiggle through a small gap in the bushes. It’s a tight fit and takes a bit of contortion when she refuses to let go of his arm to do it, but they make it through unscathed. She looks for the tree stump that acts as her waypoint and spots it a little off to the left. Releasing Felix, she starts towards it until she spots the game trail that will lead them to their destination. It’s narrow, meant for animals rather than humans, but they can pass easily enough when turned sideways. It’s slow going, but after around 10 minutes Byleth can see the sky at the end of the path.

The trees thin out to a small grassy patch before a sheer cliff. Remnants of an old road are visible leading to the drop. Hidden from view except from their vantage point are the overgrown ruins of an old tower covered in ivy, trees sprouting through the walls. Remnants of a medieval war long since passed. The wind shifted, and the cool, salty tang reminded them of their proximity to the sea. She could breathe easier here, in her alone place, and took in a long drag of the fresh air.

The place was magical. It felt broken and healed, isolated and connected, peaceful and turbulent, timeless. It felt like a form of home.

Byleth sits down well away from the edge to draw the old path. “This is the road,” she moves her hand to point at the tower, “to ruin, and we started at the end.”

Felix comes to sit down next to her, removing his phone from his pocket as he sits down cross legged on the grass. “What end?” he asks, placing his phone face down between them.

Byleth sighs and cocks her head, thinking. The beating heart of the forest pulses behind them, birds calling out to each other, trees sighing as they caress those next to them, wood creaking in the breeze and twigs snapping as the resident deer steal down their secret routes. Felix and Byleth sit there alone, together, lost in their own thoughts, listening to the world around them. She can see the anger and tension leave his body with each exhale of air until his sinewy muscles were defined but unclenched. His jaw softens, too, and his posture opens up.

The sun starts to set, painting them in warming hues of orange and pink. Byleth quickly glances at her watch - it’s 8:17 - and relaxes again. They can use the phones as torches as it gets dark, and the forest is only a 5 minute drive from hers. She can check in to make curfew before driving him home.

“The end of our childhoods would be my best guess.”

“Huh?” Felix shoots her an odd look, startled out of his peaceful reverie.

“The road to ruin. My best guess is it starts at the end of our childhoods.”

He nods, and she digs around in her jacket pockets until she finds it. She offers him her father’s wooden hip flask, hastily grabbed with keys as she gallantly ran to his rescue.

He frowns at her. “You drove.”

Byleth nudges his shoulder with hers. “You didn’t.”

“Hmph.” He takes the offered flask and sups from it. No grimace or chesty cough at the smoky sipping whisky. Jeralt would be impressed.

Byleth changes her position, leaning up with her weight supported by her arms. Her hands are splayed by her side, a little closer to Felix than the middle of the space between them. He swaps the flask to the other hand, and puts his hand down in a fist that brushes lightly against her little finger.

The sun slowly disappears over the horizon as oranges and pinks give way to deepening shades of blue and black. Byleth doesn’t pry about the argument. Felix is like a wild animal, you have to let him come to you in his own time, if he wants to.

A loud buzzing noise starts. They both look for the offending insect until the noise rings out. The forgotten mobile is between them, and when it rings again Byleth grabs it, holding the phone far away from Felix as she answers it. He makes a show of struggling to get it back, but his heart isn’t in it.

“The fit Fraldarius’ phone, Byleth speaking. Haha, yeah.....No. Not a chance......Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” she flashes Felix a wink and smile. He rolls his eyes, turning his face away from her. Awww, he liked it. “Sorry, what was that shorty? Yeah,  **shorty** . No, of course it doesn’t count if you’re on Dima’s shoulders..........Go away. Nobody likes you. Not even Dima.....” Byleth holds the phone away from her ear to sigh exasperatedly and roll her eyes.  _ “Goodbye, _ Glenn.” There’s a click as she hangs up, but quiet tapping sounds as she drafts and sends a text. The screen lights up her face as she gets a reply, then she rests it back on his thigh so it isn’t forgotten, allowing her fingers to linger temporarily. He doesn’t say anything or make a face, which is Felix-speak for acceptance of the contact. Emboldened, she moves the fingertips to rest her hand on his knee.

After seconds, or minutes, or hours, or a decade - it could easily have been any of them - he rests his hand on top of hers. Byleth doesn’t need to look at him to acknowledge it, they can both pretend the contact isn’t really there, and therefore keep it going, as long as they don’t look at each other, or talk about it, or do anything other than the small touches and the dropping everything to be there when the other needs them, do anything that would start to put a shape or a label on these feelings they allowed themselves to feel whilst denying they existed.

  
  
  


Felix stares intently at the emerging stars to avoid kissing Byleth, because neither of them can afford to look into the other’s eyes and ruin the tranquility of this moment right now. Tranquility being something he so desperately needs amongst the angry maw of chaos at home. He doesn’t need a girlfriend, he needs unyielding support. He gently squeezes her hand to feel her tighten her grip on his knee and remain, pressure unchanged. No yield.

He lets a small, contented smile grace his features, lit by the full moon in an otherworldly glow. Doesn’t even bury it in a scowl after a few seconds. He lets it stay, and enjoys the ease of this place, and this person, and this moment in time.

But all moments in time have to end. The future becomes the present becomes the past.

He sees her look at her phone before she turns to him and flashes a sympathetic smile. He only scowls after she’s seen his smile.

“We should go. Curfew,” she says with an apologetic shrug.

“Not going to ask about the argument?” Annette and Ingrid would have insisted on dragging the details out of him so they could fix it.

“No. You’d tell me if you wanted to.” Goddess, she’s perfect.

“I’m choosing the music for the way back.”

“You most certainly are  _ not,”  _ Byleth leads him away from his little piece of heaven. “We’re finishing the Fall Out Boy playlist.”

He should protest, but he doesn’t. He just drinks in the sight of her in the moonlight, bathes in the peace and the calm, and stores it away as potential ammo to diffuse his anger when he next gets into a shouting match with his father.

**Author's Note:**

> Byleth very much did not drink anything from the flask. Just wanted to 100% confirm that. Don't drink and drive people, it's bad.
> 
> Thank you so, so much as always to my wonderful betas Vi and Sayl. You guys are such a gift and even though I had a rough rl week, you guys were there helping and supporting me. I can't express my gratitude for everything enough.
> 
> IDEK what to say guys, I'm pushing my rarepair agendas here. HAPIVAIN! Manuela / Jeralt! I love them, you should too.  
> This was such a blast to write and I'm really proud of it.
> 
> Blue + yellow = ?????


End file.
